Juniper
Italian restaurant · Holly
2400 E Cesar Chavez St UNIT 304, Austin, TX 78702
Highlights
Northern Italian cuisine with Texas flavors, house-made pastas
Northern Italian cuisine with Texas flavors, house-made pastas
"The dining room at Juniper looks like it was plucked off the Pinterest board of a James Bond villain, complete with a sleek, modern interior, very little color, and a wall of spirits accessible only by ladder. It doesn’t really fit the mold of a traditional upscale Italian restaurant, but after a few bites of excellent handmade pasta, you won’t really care. There’s a prix fixe menu that you can order from if you want the full experience, but we like to order off the a la carte menu since it lets us load up on paccheri, campanelle, bucatini, and whatever other pastas are on the menu that day, because that’s where Juniper is at its best." - nicolai mccrary
"Juniper in East Austin may have a sleek, modern interior, but a meal here—made up of a series of tiny plates inspired by Northern Italy—feels surprisingly homey. And as much as we love the tasting-menu experience, the a la carte menu really lets you double down on Juniper’s carb-based strengths. Start with a salad so it counts as a balanced meal, then fill your table with as many small plates of bucatini, paccheri, campanelle, and whatever other pastas might be available on any given day." - nicolai mccrary, raphael brion
"Tucked away in East Austin, Juniper offers a refined take on Northern Italian cuisine in a chic, modern setting. Its stylish second floor is reserved exclusively for private events for up to 75 people standing. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide a warm, natural glow during the day and a moody, sophisticated ambiance at night, while sleek decor and thoughtful lighting add to the elevated experience. Guests can enjoy Juniper’s menus featuring house-made pastas, inventive small plates, and seasonal specialties, such as wood-fired chicken." - Darcie Duttweiler
"Juniper doesn’t fit the mold of a traditional upscale Italian restaurant, where red or white tablecloths and extravagant chandeliers are commonplace. Instead, a meal here feels oddly homey. This is a place where you can dress up a little, sip great Italian wines, and enjoy some of the best pasta in town. The tasting menu starts with a round of small bites, followed by five more courses (including dessert). It’s filling enough that you won’t feel shortchanged, but you might find yourself wishing the meal included more than one small plate of pasta, considering it’s Juniper’s biggest strength. Courses: 5, plus a round of small bites Price: $110 per person, plus a surcharge for one of the two entree choices" - nicolai mccrary, matthew jacobs
"Borges will take over as executive chef at the group's flagship restaurant in Austin and plans to take the restaurant back to its roots, focusing on Northern Italian food while also including some Brazilian items. He tells Eater Austin that "I think Italian cuisine and European styles have always part of the philosophy of how I cook, focused on simplicity and high-[quality] ingredients." Borges says he is in awe of the restaurant's 10-year history in Austin but that the role of any good restaurant is to "always continue to evolve." With his team he added a scallop crudo with Texas peaches and a citrus vinaigrette, new steak options, a rock shrimp pasta with marinated tomatoes, and a tuna tartare mixed with tomatoes. "You can’t see the difference [between tuna and tomato] because it’s all red," he says. "It’s really fun." There's also a potato-filled pasta that Borges says "looks really pretty" and is served with butter, chicken jus, and truffles. "When you look at some dishes, there are only three or four ingredients, but there is a lot of technique and layers of flavor," Borges says. "It shows the vision of what we’re going for." - Courtney E. Smith
